TREASURY

Contingencies Fund: HM Revenue and Customs

Dawn Primarolo: In response to one of the recommendations of Gus O'Donnell's review of the revenue departments in 2004, the Government have introduced the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Bill. In line with the review's recommendations, the Bill will create a new integrated taxes and customs department to supersede the existing departments of Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. This restructuring will aid the efficient and effective management of taxation, and the provision of a more effective service to the public and businesses.
	Subject to parliamentary approval, the new department will be launched in April 2005. It is important to have an integrated internet site in place immediately, to provide a single point of contact for online customer information. An integrated internal intranet site, providing a single point of reference for staff, will be launched at the same time.
	Urgent work is required in advance of the legislation receiving Royal Assent to allow those sites to be developed, tested and presented as new unified HM Revenue and Customs sites, both to enable the new sites to be launched on time, and avoid later costly duplication of development and testing work.
	Parliamentary approval for additional resources and cash of £11,750 for this new service has been sought in the Inland Revenue's spring supplementary estimate. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure of £11,750 on work to develop and test the new logo on the IT systems will be met by a repayable cash advance from the Contingencies Fund.

Pre-Owned Asset Regulations (Double Charges' Relief)

Dawn Primarolo: This statement announces regulations under section 104 Finance Act 1986 to provide relief from double inheritance tax (IHT) charges in situations caught by the pre-owned assets provisions at Schedule 15 Finance Act 2004, and is in addition to extended relief from income tax under Schedule 15 which I announced in a written statement on 7 March.
	The pre-owned assets legislation in Schedule 15 provides for taxpayers to make an election so that they do not have to pay income tax in respect of a pre-owned asset but instead have the asset treated as part of their estate for IHT purposes. If the taxpayer dies within the next few years after making the election there is a possibility of two IHT charges on the same underlying asset value.
	In particular, many taxpayers have used a "double trust" structure: one trust is created to buy the settlor's asset in exchange for an IOU, and this IOU is gifted into a second trust to take it out of the settlor's taxable estate. If the settlor dies within seven years, the estate will be liable to IHT on the IOU; and if they have made an election under Schedule 15 Finance Act 2004, their estate will be also liable on the underlying asset. It is clear from responses in consultation that this prospect is preventing some people from making an election which they would otherwise find attractive.
	The regulations will eliminate this double IHT charge so that people who wish to make an election under Schedule 15 can be assured that only one IHT charge will be due whatever the timing of their death.
	The regulations will be announced and made available on the Inland Revenue's website at: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

The Legal Deposit Advisory Panel

Tessa Jowell: I wish to announce the establishment of a new advisory non-departmental public body: "The Legal Deposit Advisory Panel".
	The Legal Deposit Advisory Panel will have a crucial role in the implementation of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. The key tasks of the advisory panel will be to advise the Secretary of State on the content of regulations for the deposit of particular classes of non-print media, making recommendations for future secondary legislation as appropriate. This will ensure that the substantial archival resources in the legal deposit libraries keep pace with contemporary publishing trends.
	Following extensive consultation with publishers, legal deposit libraries and other interested parties we have formulated the terms of reference and membership specifications of the panel. We will now be seeking to appoint members to the panel in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments regulation.

DEFENCE

Balkans Update

Geoff Hoon: NATO has requested the deployment to Kosovo of the United Kingdom spearhead land element (SLE), which currently provides the ready battalion for the NATO Balkan-wide over the horizon operational reserve force. The battalion currently fulfilling the role of SLE is the 1st Battalion the Royal Green Jackets.
	The deployment, which was requested by NATO late on the evening of Friday 4 March, was made in order to demonstrate the alliance's resolve and capability in the run-up to a number of important local anniversaries, including that of violent demonstrations last year on 17 March. The Kosovo Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has also announced today that he is to resign following his indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. We welcome his decision to go voluntarily to The Hague.
	Following the request from NATO, troops began to deploy to Kosovo over the weekend. A total of around 500 in all should deploy by early this week. We anticipate recovering the battalion back to the UK within thirty days, as we did with the UK element of the operational reserve force that was deployed last March, unless there are compelling operational reasons to consider leaving this capability in Kosovo for longer.
	I shall keep the House updated of any significant developments when they occur.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Direct Airside Transit Visas

Des Browne: The Government are firmly committed to maintaining effective immigration controls while at the same time ensuring that genuine passengers are able to pass through our ports with the least possible inconvenience.
	The number of people arriving at UK airports who are found to be inadmissible is unacceptably high. Certain nationals, who are required to hold a valid visa to enter the UK, may transit this country for up to 24 hours without a visa. This provides a relatively easy and inexpensive way for those who are intent on circumventing our immigration controls to do so. Since 2003 we have expanded the direct airside transit visa (DATV) requirement to cover 23 additional nationalities. This has helped contribute to the significant drop in port asylum applications from these nationalities. For the three months following the introduction on 16 October 2003 of DATV regimes for Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, India, Lebanon and Pakistan, the number of asylum applications made at ports by those nationalities fell by 58 per cent.
	Intelligence would suggest that some individuals travelling to the United Kingdom on documents issued by Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Mongolia are destroying these documents either en route or after gaining entry to the UK, and are then applying for asylum as nationals of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia or China. Therefore from 00.01 hours on Wednesday 9 March all nationals Congo, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Mongolia wishing to transit the UK will require a visa to do so.
	To avoid undue hardship for those who had already made their travel plans, we have agreed to operate a grace period. Until 23.59 hours on Tuesday 15 March, any transit passenger who bought their ticket on or before 8 March will not be refused entry solely on the basis of not holding a valid transit visa. Also, any person on the return leg of a journey they commenced before 9 March and who passed through the UK on the outward leg of their journey will be allowed to transit the UK without a visa until 23.59 on 5 April.
	In parallel with those measures, we are introducing changes to the arrangements that allow certain groups of low risk passenger to be exempt from a transit visa requirement if they are in possession of specific documents. Passengers who hold a valid visa for Australia and New Zealand will now be exempt from the DATV requirement. Visa-free transit of the United Kingdom will now be possible for such passengers irrespective of the routing chosen to reach Australia or Canada.
	Further amendments to the exemptions mean that a passenger returning from a trip to the Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA will now be able to transit the United Kingdom irrespective of the routing they choose providing they are in possession of an onward air ticket and the visa held by them remains valid or they are not seeking to transit the UK more than six months since they last entered Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA respectively, with a valid visa.
	I believe these changes will further reduce scope for abuse of the United Kingdom's immigration controls, whilst minimising inconvenience for genuine travellers and the travel industry alike.